NFL sets salary cap at $182.5 million for 2021, giving Patriots $64.5 million

The salary cap dropped nearly $16 million since last year, making a rough week for veterans.

The 2021 NFL salary cap number isn’t far off from the expected numbers coming into Wednesday.

Speculation around the league led to something between $180 million and $185 million for teams to spend in 2021 — the NFL went exactly in the middle to $182.5 million. The Pandemic clearly took a hit on the league’s finances, as the 2020 salary cap was set at $198.2 million.

This means the New England Patriots will have $64.49 million to spend, which is the third-most in the league behind the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets. The Patriots have already been active ahead of free agency by trading for Trent Brown and they’ll have plenty of money to work with.

For a lot of teams in the league, this will be very difficult for veterans and players who’ll get cut for strictly financial reasons.

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